How To Tame A Wild Tongue Chapter Summaries

Language is more than just a means of communication; it is part of one's culture, self-expression, and identity. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” is a chapter from the book ,Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza ,written by Gloria E. Anzaldua. In this chapter, she talks about her Chicana life during a period full of immigrant controversies where Latinos living in the United States were struggling to find their national identity and a language to speak freely without feeling any shame or fear She explains the dilemma she had to face during this time in which she was often criticized and scolded for her improper Spanish accent. From these experiences she labeled these attacks on languages as “Linguistic Terrorism”. Anzaldua expresses her feelings

about cultural and social difficulties that immigrants face when being raised in the United States. She states comparisons among English, Spanish and their dialects and how there's this type of hierarchy of people’s preference to speak one language rather than the other. Anzaldúa targets her readers who share a similar experience in finding a clear identity and also provide an understanding of how conflicts can arise because of different cultures and languages.
Anzaldua expresses her strong emotions towards the abandonment of one's native tongue in order to conform to society's standard.

The conflict she addresses is the criticizing of one's accent and how that can shape an individual's identity and mentality. In this chapter, Anzaldua talks about her life during these controversies with her language where she was told that spoke the 'improper' and 'poor' Chicano Spanish throughout her childhood. She was constantly scolded and criticized by her mother as well as educator. Anzaldua had to control her tongue and she was not allowed to speak Spanish at her school or she would receive some form of punishment. She says that “All Chicano students were required to take two speech classes. Their purpose: to get rid of our accents” (Anzaldua, 2947). In almost every environment, she was mentally tortured by the dominant English language and culture into conforming to society's norms. Her native tongue was constantly belittled by those who speak the standard English and Spanish language. Anzaldua calls this "Linguistic Terrorism" because it is an attack on individual’s identity and their native language. This creates a sort of hierarchy in what is spoken because society sees these other dialects as illegitimate and

inferior.
This concept of linguistic terrorism in which she explains is the cause and effect of speaking an unrecognized or disrespected language. The issue she addresses is the criticizing of one's accent and how this can shape an individual and cause them to conform and give up their native language. This is an attack on an individual's opinion on what is acceptable and what is not and if someone were to critique a person's way of speaking they are also criticising them as an individual. She states that “a language which they can connect their identity to, one capable of communicating the realities and values true to themselves”(Anzaldua, 2948). Ethnic identity is very much related to linguistic identity, therefore criticizing one's way of speaking also attacks who the individual is.
Jean-Paul Sartre states a main point that would think agree with Anzalduas critique of linguistic terrorism.

In his book, Existentialism is a Humanist, he brings up the point about abandonment and he explains that it signifies that God does not exist and we should accept the significance of this non-existence. He also describes abandonment as the acknowledgement of the loneliness that people may feel when they realize there is no God to dictate a way of life and to guide them on how to live. He states that “if God does not exist, are we provided with any values or commands that could legitimise our behavior. Thus we have neither behind us, nor before us in a luminous realm of values, any means of justification or excuse” (Sartre, 8) Sartre claims that without God, the entire basis of morality is destroyed, including the values of secular morality since God played the role of creating our a priori ideas.We are simply abandoned in the sense of being alone in this universe and there is no guidance for people on how to live. In comparison to linguistic terrorism, both are very similar because if people were to abandon their native language and culture, they would feel lost and confused about their identity. Their native language is their god and by being forced to abandon what they believe in, you destroy a part of that individual's foundation and their

values.
Another author that would agree with Anzaldua is Albert Memmi and his book Decolonization and the Decolonized. A point that Memmi makes in his book is in the section of A Sick Society, where he explains how Islamic Terrorism is like a suicide bomber in which they are trying to take themselves out and bring the world down with them. Memmi states that “the Arab world blames them for every sin, depravity, loss of value...the suicide bomber must destroy this abject world along with himself, for it has become unlivable for him and those like him” (Memmi,65). This terrorism is very extreme and has no morals in order to reach its goal of trying to destroy the world because it has been destroyed by the West and they believe they are saving everyone from the end of the world. This is similar to linguistic terrorism because the many languages ,like the Chicano language that Anzaldua speaks, are viewed as a “bastard” languages and are thought to be unfit spoken in that society and inferior. Both Memmi and Anzalduas points are a type of terrorism that tries to destroy people both physically and mentally because of their identity.
In today’s society I believe that there is a better understanding for other people's culture and language than what it was back then. This is because of how society has changed with the influences from media and the internet. Since everyone is now more exposed to a vast amount of information regarding many things such as culture and languages, we are more accepting of other people's background and identity. Even in schools, many different languages are available for students to take and not only do these classes teach how to speak them but they also provide history and cultural background. Much has changed throughout time and I would say that people are more accepting of other’s identity and their language. However, I also still think linguistic terrorism still exists in parts of the world where people aren't exposed to different cultures and people from different locations. Still, there is a large improvement on how accepting the world has been today of other people's language and identity.
Gloria Anzaldua is the voice of the Chicano people who have experienced living on both sides of the border and faced the problems that arose because of their language. She tells us her story about the experience of being a Chicano living in the United States where all the pressure of forgetting her language and being forced to change was put on her shoulders for many years. She provides us with the term of linguistic terrorism, which helps reveal how society has tried to change a person's background to the standard because their own culture was not fit. This chapter in her book helps support and further promote the acceptance of all languages and accents and influence people to be proud of where they are from and what language they speak.